Page 19 (1/2)

NOT OKAY

Paranormalcy

I tried to connect back to Lish on the vid screen, but the channel was busy Punching Raquel’s number on my communicator as I pulled on one of my boots, I swore It was busy, too I yanked on rabbed Tasey and , that it was just a weird coincidence No alar was okay Everything had to be okay

As I turned the corner to Central Processing I slipped, flying backward and hitting ainst the wall The floor was covered ater and s were now soaked I couldn’t breathe Everything was not okay Pushing ain, and pal doors

"No," I whispered, so shocked it felt like everything around me had slowed, disappeared, stopped I knew I had toanyed hole smashed into Lish’s aquariu there, near the hole, was Lish

She couldn’t be dead She couldn’t Lish was forever She was my friend, my best friend There couldn’t be a reality in which Lish wasn’t She was probably just hurt--I needed to get her ht away

I ran forward "Lish! It’s okay I’h the hole and sloshed over to her Her eyes, her beautiful, beautiful eyes, ide, the clear eyelids half shut She wasn’t olden fla "Lish?" I dropped toher in one, she couldn’t be I stroked her hand, the webbing between her fingers finer and listened

She didn’t move, she wouldn’t one There was nothing I could do and it was my fault I had left the ankle trackers that becaot in I leaned over and kissed her on the head "I’ into a sob

I was shivering already, soaked through I didn’t want to move, ever, because if I didn’t leave, if I didn’t let her go, then she wasn’t really gone Shifting position, I gasped Sos, cutting into h to jar ently back down I stood and pulled the shard of glass out of

It was here I ran out of the tank and to the here there was an elass cover with hts went a notch brighter with strobes going off and a loud alar

Raquel--Raquel had to know about this I pulled out my communicator and punched in her number while I ran for her office "What?" she said "I’ to contact Lish, we don’t knohat the alar "It’s here It’s here"

The line was silent for what felt like forever "Heaven help us all," Raquel whispered Then, her voice hurried and panicked, she said, "Meet e all the personnel It doesn’t go after hued direction and started running for Transport Then I stopped "What about the paranormals?" What about Lend?

"There’s no ti in et out Death alking the hallways and I needed to escape "No," I whispered, turning my communicator off I ran back the way I came, headed for Lend’s cell He was trapped He’d be completely helpless, just like Lish

Oh, Lish

No one deserved to die like that I was running past the gyain There were over a hundred olves in there, sleeping Charlotte was in there, and Jacques--he should have been in there, too I wanted to throw up I couldn’t wake them, tell them to run I couldn’t carry them out What could I do? Then it hit me

"Denfehlath!" I shouted After a few seconds a door opened in the wall and she stepped out, ruby eyes blazing with excite with the olves," I commanded

Her smile disappeared "What?" she hissed

"Start now You’ve got a lot of sleeping bodies towith fury, but entered the gyy my hand there for a full fifteen seconds The pad turned red and I hit a co it

A couple of va on?" Vlad asked He ith the guy from before who’d tried to hit on me

"You need to hide! It’s here!"

The end of the hallway filled with light; a figure turned the corner It was shaped like a person, but htly the ie was seared into my retinas It walked toward us, beautiful and terrible as the sunflesh

"Run!" I shouted to the vaht?

They turned toward the creature just as it got to theain The creature cocked its head, turning toward me as it lifted both hands and put one on each vampire’s chest I watched in horror as the vahtly Then it was like someone turned off whatever was inside the but corpses now